Reversible door frame

ABSTRACT

A metal door frame is disclosed in which the frame members are separable and reversible end for end to provide the same configuration in inverted position so that identical parts can be used both for right opening and left opening doors.

United States Patent Begin June 17, 1975 I5 REVERSIBLE DOOR FRAME 2,652,907 9/l953 Miller 49/504 3,364,624 l/l968 Davis [761 lnvenm" Claude De La 3,721.055 3/1973 .Ierchower 49/504 x Quebec 2, Province of Quebec, Canada [22] Fil d; D 17, 1973 Primary Examiner-Kenneth Downey At! A F pp No: 425,625 orney gent or :rm Bacon & Thomas [30] Foreign Application Priority Data Dec. 18, 1972 Canada 159253 [571 ABSTRACT [52] Cl. 49/504; 52/213 A metal door frame is disclosed in which the frame [5 Int. Cl E06!) 2/14 members are separable and reversible end for end to [58] Field of Search 49/504. 505, 382; 52/213, provide the same configuration in inverted position so 52/217 that identical parts can be used both for right opening and left opening doors. {56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1 Claim, 17 Drawing Figures l/l909 Goddard........................... 49/505 X wa s/123 PATENTEDJUN 17 I975 SHEET REVERSIBLE DOOR FRAME The present invention relates to a door frame of the type in which the lintel and the posts are made of metal section members including lateral portions which constitute the moldings for the door frame.

It is known to supply conventional wooden door frames as a preassembled unit which is inserted in the door opening and shimmed as required. In such wooden door frames the striker and the hinges can easily be installed on the spot by the use of carpenter tools and such frames are therefore identical whether they be used for doors which open either to the left or to the right or inwardly or outwardly with respect to the space on one side of the wall.

With the advent of metal frames however the installation of the striker and the associated latch for receiving the bolt and the installation of hinges would have been too laborious to be carried out at the construction site and would have required special metal working tools. It has been common practice therefore to provide such metal frames in symmetrically opposite units with the striker latch and hinge connections of one unit for doors opening towards the right and another unit with these elements arranged so that the door can be opened towards the left. This procedure creates complications and possible mistakes when supplying the door frames and requires the stocking of two different items.

It is the main object of the present invention to provide a door frame which is reversible so that by rearrangement of the frame members the door frame can be used for either left opening or right opening doors. The invention thus avoids the necessity for storing two different items and simplifies the supply procedure while avoiding the occurence of time-consuming errors.

The invention accordingly provides a door frame of metal section members comprising a lintel, hinge post with provisions for connection of hinges, a latch post with a latch element therein, the lintel and the posts having matching joint configurations at the ends thereof, the lintel and the posts being symmetrical in respect of the hinge connections, the latch and the joint configurations about a central plane perpendicular to their longitudinal extent. With this arrangement the posts can be placed on either side of the door opening and inverted depending on whether a right opening or left opening door is to be provided according to architectural requirements.

Further according to the invention, shim members are provided at each end of the frame members disposed on the face of the frame members adjacent a wall opening for the frame and extension means operable from the inner faces of the frame members to force the shim members against the wall opening and move the frame members towards each other. This arrangement facilitates the installation of the necessarily separable reversible frame members.

More specifically, the extension means comprise a screw threaded into each shim member, a bracket holding the head of each screw against the face of the frame members and a hole in the frame member to provide access to the slot of the screw.

According to one feature of the invention, the joint configurations comprise identical tongues at both ends of the posts and identical grooves at both ends of the lintel adapted to receive the tongue.

According to an alternative feature of the invention, the joint configurations comprise a rabbet at both ends of the lintel and butt ends on the posts adapted to fit the rabbet.

More specifically, the lintel further includes hooked flanges at the edges of the rabbets engageable with the post butt ends and having their hooked engagement portions coplanar with the rabbets.

Further according to the invention, the frame members comprise identical wings and a separate door stopper with connection means between the stopper and the wings.

More specifically, the frame member wings have grooves at their inner edges and the separate door stopper is provided with tongues at its outer edges engagable with the wing grooves and snaps interconnecting the tongues and grooves.

Still in accordance with the invention, the posts comprise inwardly extending flanges forming grooves at the outer edges thereof and hook straps engageable with the grooves and extending outwardly beyond the frame members with wall fastening means associated with the straps to fasten the bottom ends of the posts to a wall in the mounted position of the frame.

Further according to the invention, the section frame members have rounded corners and the ends engaging the rounded corners at the joint configurations are correspondingly rounded.

Preferred embodiments of the invention are illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a door frame according to the invention in mounted position.

FIG. 2 is a vertical cross-section of the door frame lintel taken on line 22 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary elevation of the door frame showing the connection between a post and the lintel and partly cut away to show one of the shim members.

FIG. 4 is a horizontal cross-section taken on line 4-4 of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a detailed view in perspective of the snap connection between a frame wing and a door stopper in unassembled condition.

FIG. 6 is a perspective detail corresponding to FIG. 5 but showing the frame wing and the door stopper in assembled condition.

FIG. 7 is a perspective detail of the frame wing and door stopper in assembled condition as in FIG. 6 but showing a different embodiment of the snap connection.

FIG. 8 is an elevation on a reduced scale of the door frame according to the invention with a door mounted therein in which the door is arranged to open towards the left.

FIG. 9 is an elevation corresponding to FIG. 8 but with the frame members reversed and in which the door mounted in the frame opens towards the right.

FIG. 10 is a diagrammatic elevation of the frame members and of the door indicating by arrows the manner in which these are reversed.

FIG. 11 is a fragmentary horizontal cross-sectional of the door frame taken on line 11-11 of FIG. 9 showing a strap for securing the bottom of the posts.

FIG. 12 is a fragmentary perspective view of a door frame according to a modified embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 13 is a perspective fragmentary view of the modified embodiment of FIG. 12 showing the connection between lintel and post.

FIG. 14 is a fragmentary elevation of the joint be tween lintel and post of the modified embodiment of FIG. 12.

FIG. 15 is a fragmentary perspective view of the end of the post in the embodiment of FIG. 12.

FIG. 16 is a fragmentary perspective view of the joint between lintel and post in the embodiment of FIG. 12 seen from another angle.

FIG. 17 is a plan of the blank from which the lintel of FIGS. 12 to 16 is made, prior to folding thereof into a section member.

Referring to FIG. 1, the door frame according to the first embodiment of the invention comprises a lintel 10 and two posts 12 and 14, the former post having provision (not shown) for connecting hinges (not shown) to it such as threaded holes for receiving screws (not shown) by which the hinges are fastened; the latter post being provided centrally intermediate its ends with a suitably positioned striker plate 16 with a hole 18 constituting a latch element for the door bolt (not shown).

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, the lintel 10 and the posts 12 and 14 are of identical cross-section and comprise each a pair of identical wings 20 and a door stopper 22 interposed between the wings. Each wing 20 is composed of a channel portion 24 constituting the frame portion and a molding portion 26 at right angles thereto and integral therewith. The molding portion 26 is likewise channel shaped and is additionally provided with an inwardly extending flange 28 at its outer end.

The frame portion 24 of each wing has at its inner end a bent-over flange 30 which forms a groove as shown in greater detail in FIGS. to 7.

The door stopper 22 is also channel-shaped and its free marginal portions form tongues which are adapted to enter the aforementioned grooves. These tongues are provided with stamped lugs 32 which upon assembly of the door stopper 22 with the wings 20 enter openings 34 in the wings 20 to form a snap connection between the door stopper and the wings as indicated in FIGS. 5 and 6.

A similar arrangement is shown in the embodiment of FIG. 7 but in this case the lug 32' is of angular configuration and bent outwardly rather than being stamped.

The door stoppers 22 of both the lintel and the posts are provided near each end thereof with shim members 36 which are U-shaped and have a threaded hole in their cross pieces 38 into which engages a screw 40 the head 42 of which is held against the underface of the stopper 22 by a bracket 44. A hole 46 in the door stopper provides access to the slot of each screw by means of a screw driver indicated at S in FIG. 4. Turning of the screw 40 in the appropriate direction causes outward movement of the shim member 36 and corresponding inward reaction movement of the frame member.

The lintel l0 and the posts 12 and 14 are provided with matching joint configurations at both ends thereof constituted by a tongue 48 on the posts which is a portion of reduced width and a groove on the lintel adapted to receive the tongue 48 and extending between the molding portions 26 of the lintel l0. Either end of the lintel 10 can thus be joined with either end of the post 12 or 14 to form a flush molding surface.

It will be seen that both posts 12 and 14 as well as the lintel 10 are symmetrical in respect to the hinge connections and the joint connections as well as to the striker 16 about a central plane perpendicular to their longitudinal extent which in the case of post 14 interse ts the striker 16. Posts 12 and 14 can thus be mounted on either side of the frame as required by whether the door is to open to the left as in FIG. 8 or to the right as in FIG. 9, the posts being respectively inverted in these two cases. Due to the aforementioned symmetry, the inversion results in identical configuration. The bolt (not shown) and handle H on the door D have to be installed centrally of the height of the door which for normal-height doors is not an inconvenience although under common practice the bolt and handle are installed somewhat lower.

To install the door frame according to the invention, frame members 12 and 14 are suitably oriented according to the architectural requirements namely whether the door is to open to the left or to the right and the frame is loosely placed in the opening. Screws 40 are then turned to force the shim members 36 outwardly and the frame members inwardly and towards each other and screws 50 are then inserted through matching holes of lintel molding portions 26 and adjacent post tongues 48 and into the wall W (FIG. 2).

At the bottom, the posts 12 and 14 are similarly suitably positioned by turning screws 40 and are then secured to the wall W by means of hook straps shown in FIG. 11 comprising a strap portion 52 fastened to the wall W by nails or screws and a hook portion 54 which engages behind the flanges 28 of molding portions 26. In the embodiment of FIG. 12 to 17, the frame members constituting the lintel 1 10 and the posts 112 or 1 14 are of single-piece construction again including a door stopper portion 122, frame portions 124 on either side thereof and right angled molding portions 126.

The joint configuration in this embodiment consists of a rabbet provided on the lintel dimensioned to receive the butt end of the post 112 or 114. To ensure proper fit of the parts, the rabbet edges of lintel 110 are provided with hooked flanges 56 which are engageable with the butt ends of the posts as shown in FIG. 13 and 14 and have their hooked engagement portions coplanar with the rabbets to ensure proper fitting together of the rabbets with the butts. As in the first embodiment the posts 114 are provided with adjustable shim members 136 operated by screws mounted in the door stopper portions 122. By contrast, the lintel 110 is provided at each end with two shim members 136 of like operation but mounted on the frame portions 124.

The installation of the door frame according to the embodiment of FIGS. 12 to 17 is the same as was previously described in connection with the first embodiment of FIGS. 1 to 11.

The projecting corners of frame portions 122 and I24 are slightly rounded. To ensure a proper fit and avoid slots at the rabbet joints the door stopper portions 122 and the frame portions 124 of the lintel 110 have their ends similarly rounded at the cut forming the rabbet as shown in FIG. 17. A similar provision may be made in the embodiment of FIG. 1 to 11.

I claim.

1. A door frame of metal section members of identical shape and dimensions comprising a lintel, a hinge post with provisions for connections of hinges, and a latch post with a latch element therein, said lintel and 6 said posts having matching joint configurations at the said frame members comprising separate identical ends thereof f y either end of Posts m y be wings and a separate door stopper, said wings havjoined to said lintel to define a frame having continuous mg grooves at their inner edges, said door Smpper flush opposed outer surfaces, said lime] and said posts having tongues at its outer edges seated in said being symmetrical in respect of said hinge connections, 5 said latch and said joint configurations about a central wmg and res'hem snaps hcldmg plane perpendicular to the longitudinal extent of said tongues 531d grooveslintel and said posts, 

1. A door frame of metal section members of identical shape and dimensions comprising a lintel, a hinge post with provisions for connections of hinges, and a latch post with a latch element therein, said lintel and said posts having matching joint configurations at the ends thereof whereby either end of said posts may be joined to said lintel to define a frame having continuous flush opposed outer surfaces, said lintel and said posts being symmetrical in respect of said hinge connections, said latch and said joint configurations about a central plane perpendicular to the longitudinal extent of said lintel and said posts, said frame members comprising separate identical wings and a separate door stopper, said wings having grooves at their inner edges, said door stopper having tongues at its outer edges seated in said wing grooves, and resilient snaps holding said tongues in said grooves. 